A group of Coptic Orthodox in Egypt calling themselves the "Right to Life Movement" have said they will leave the church in a dispute with the leadership. The Coptic Orthodox Church opposes divorce and remarriage except in cases of adultery. The Right to Life Movement wants further changes to the regulations regarding divorce.

From the article:

Quote

A senior bishop, who asked not to be named, downplayed the decision, saying the number of those who intend to leave can be counted on two hands and the idea of mass resignation is strange and illogical.

A group of Coptic Orthodox in Egypt calling themselves the "Right to Life Movement" have said they will leave the church in a dispute with the leadership. The Coptic Orthodox Church opposes divorce and remarriage except in cases of adultery. The Right to Life Movement wants further changes to the regulations regarding divorce.

From the article:

Quote

A senior bishop, who asked not to be named, downplayed the decision, saying the number of those who intend to leave can be counted on two hands and the idea of mass resignation is strange and illogical.

If they can verify the name of the bishop, I'd criticize him and question his pastoral Christianity. However because he is "unnamed" I have my suspicions that the article is making it worse than it should be. True, this may be distressing to some, but to split from the Church over this is ridiculous. Sounds like a bunch of Protestants.

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Vain existence can never exist, for "unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain." (Psalm 127)

If the faith is unchanged and rock solid, then the gates of Hades never prevailed in the end.

If they can verify the name of the bishop, I'd criticize him and question his pastoral Christianity.

I would be careful Mina. no one knows what pastoral christianity is until they've lived it at the same level as the person they are questioning. You can ask, yes, but question the person directly? only if you are trying to understand, not admonish. admonishment must come from a place of assurance, not reaction (if at all)

I don't get it. How is decreased strictness vis-a-vis divorce a "right to life" issue? Is this "Right to Life" group petitioning for one's right to life without the attachments of a no-longer-wanted marriage?

If they can verify the name of the bishop, I'd criticize him and question his pastoral Christianity. However because he is "unnamed" I have my suspicions that the article is making it worse than it should be. True, this may be distressing to some, but to split from the Church over this is ridiculous. Sounds like a bunch of Protestants.

Wait, so you're saying his "pastoral Christianity" is suspect, but then you essentially repeat his arguments that (a) this is being overblown in importance and number by the reports, and (b) that leaving the Church over this is illogical ("... to split from the Church over this is ridiculous" and "Sounds like a bunch of Protestants" and "the article is making it worse than it should be"). That makes sense.

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"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."" Isaac Asimov

The reason I say this is because it doesn't sound like what a Coptic bishop would say. When Max Michel left and became his own patriarch, we didn't say, "It's just one person who left the Church." HH Pope Shenouda wrote an article asking Max Michel as a father to a son to come back to the Church that nursed him.

This isn't a pastoral response. It's about knowing how to respond to the media. Saying that these people are few, and they can leave the church sounds a lot like contradicting the idea that Christ would even give up His life for the one sheep that went astray. And this would be something Protestants would like to use as ammo against the Orthodox Church. "See" they'd say, "the Orthodox Church doesn't care about its people. Come to the real Christ-loving Church."

That's why I suspect a bunch of Protestants are trying to give a bad name to the Church by sourcing some "unnamed" bishop. It's quite odd that our bishops would fear to give their names when they make a statement.

I would expect a named bishop would say, "We will be very sad if these people left our Church. At the same, our hands our tied because we do not want to stray from the Orthodox faith."

« Last Edit: August 15, 2011, 10:36:56 PM by minasoliman »

Logged

Vain existence can never exist, for "unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain." (Psalm 127)

If the faith is unchanged and rock solid, then the gates of Hades never prevailed in the end.

"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."" Isaac Asimov